Beneath the Surface
by kopiella
Summary: After a complex escape plan leaves Oahu State Prison in ruin, Steve begins receiving threats against him. Racing to protect him & find the perpetrator, the real target is captured leaving Five-O with the task of finding him before the results turn deadly.
1. Chapter 1

**Beneath the Surface – Chapter One**

_June 26, 1972 – Monday_

The water looked deep and inviting. He wondered what it would be like to jump in, and have his body engulfed by the water. He imagined breathing in the beautiful seawater, allowing it to enter his lungs. He could almost feel the burning in his chest as his body fought against him, trying to get oxygen. He smiled; it sounded wonderful. He knew he didn't have anything to live for anymore. _They_ told him so. Honestly, _they_ even showed him proof that he had nothing to live for. More than that, they showed him that he was responsible...for everything.

All of his blood relatives were dead. His fiancee was dead. His friends, his _best _friend...all dead. And because of him. _They _showed him the evidence; provided him with the proof. _They _told him he was incompetent, and stupid. He had possessed the ability to stop the deaths, but he couldn't. And the reason behind that? He was a failure. He knew that now, _they _ had told him repeatedly, and he finally realized how right _they_ were.

That was why he was here now, on top of a big lava rock overlooking the ocean, ready to jump at any given time. _They_ told him he didn't deserve to live; told him he was a bad person. He had caused his friends and family's deaths: he was solely responsible, couldn't he see that? He had seen it, and he said he would do anything to make up for it.

_They_ told him he could. _They_ said he could pay a small percentage back to those who had died because of him. When he asked how, they told him. He hesitated for a moment, but once he was reminded of the horrible deeds he had done, he made up his mind. _They_ were right. He _deserved_ to die, and he _deserved _to die by his own hand. Then _they_ told him that not a soul in the world cared about him, but _they _cared enough to help him pay back those he owed. _They _were the only ones who were going to be there for him, and he believed them

He had never gotten the chance to see his deceased loved ones after their deaths. He didn't know if he wanted to have seen them...he was told that they died horrible deaths. He knew that it was his fault, and now he was ready to take the punishment for what he had done.

He looked around, he was alone up here on the rock. There were only two ways off, straight down or back the way he came, where _they_ were waiting. His gaze returned to the ocean, and his heart began to pound as he readied himself for what was about to happen.

Somewhere in his subconscious, something told him he shouldn't do this. Something told him that somebody out there _did _care, and he wasn't acting in his own free will, therefore he needed to _stop._ He conquered the thoughts, telling himself he knew exactly what he was doing. Not only did he deserve this, he _wanted_ this. It was the least he could do for his fallen comrades.

With that last parting thought, Danny Williams stood up shakily and dived headfirst, beneath the surface of the glistening blue ocean.

**H50**

_To be continued..._

**H50**

A/N: Hi There...so, here it is: the first chapter of my ongoing work-in-progress. I've been working on it for some time now, trying to figure out where I'm going with it. I think I now know where I'm headed with this, but the fate of certain characters is yet to be decided...


	2. Chapter 2

**Beneath the Surface – Chapter Two**

_May 26, 1972 – 9:16 PM_

It was getting very late, the entire staff of Five-O was gone, except for two detectives. Sitting inside of his stuff cubicle, Danny Williams finally decided that he could not ignore his stomach's pleas for food anymore; after all, he had skipped lunch. He finished the report he was working on, then got up and walked over to the door of his boss's office. He knocked, then entered before receiving the permission to do so.

Steve McGarrett was seated behind his big wooden desk, a report in hand, and a studious look on his face. He glanced up as Danny walked into his office, and set the report down. He leaned back in his chair, grateful for the interruption, for he really needed a break.

"How goes it, Danno? Want to order some Chinese?" Steve asked, his detective skills had told him that hunger was the reason for Danny's visit.

Dan grinned, perching himself on the edge of Steve's desk. "Sounds great to me, I'm starved."

Steve smiled in return, and picked up his phone. He began to place he and Danny's usual order, when the manager came on the phone rambling in Chinese and English about how it was always too late to deliver when Steve called. As he hung up, Steve realized how late it really was getting.

"After food gets here, why don't we call it a night, Danno?"

Danny looked back at Steve and nodded his head in agreement. He got off of the desk, and plunked down in the chair in front of the desk instead.

They sat there in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the palm tree leaves dancing in the wind outside of the office, as well as the sounds of congested late night traffic. The peace was disturbed by sound of a ringing telephone.

Steve sighed and picked it up. "McGarrett," he growled.

Danny watched his boss's reaction to whatever was being said on the other end. McGarrett's face began to fall, ending with a stupefied look of disbelief. He ended the call, and shot out of his seat, reaching for his jacket.

"Let's go, Danno! I'll explain on the way," Steve was already out of the door by the time Danny registered what he had said. Dan inwardly groaned, realizing that he wasn't going to be getting food or sleep for quite a while. He stood up and raced after Steve.

**H50**

The big black Mercury pulled to a screeching halt in front of Oahu State Prison, which had uncontrollable flames erupting from nearly everywhere within the prison.

Steve and Danny stood and stared in horror, taking in every aspect of the unbelievable, chaotic event that was taking place in front of their eyes.

There was a large, untouched portion of the prison that the prisoners were standing in. Many of them were coughing and wheezing as smoke swirled into their lungs. There were firemen running through the prison trying to find any trapped victims of the fire. There was a _very_ small number of prisoners who were rejoicing at the demise of the prison. Most of the prisoners were being mature, and were actually somber. They seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, and were showing signs of genuine concern for what was happening. Guards and policemen were trying to herd the other prisoners over into the temporary "safety zone."

Firetrucks were lined up along two sides of the prison; the only two sides of the prison that had fire hydrants close by. The firemen were desperately trying to get the fire under control, but there was just too much fire.

Reporters were arriving in swarms, each journalist wanting _the_ scoop on the red-hot event.

The prison warden, Captain Wade, noticed the two shell-shocked detectives, and made his way over to them quickly.

"Steve. Danny," He nodded at each in greeting, the grave features on his face were set in stone.

Two pairs of solemn blue eyes locked on the Captain's face. Steve and Danny then glanced at each other, communicating with their eyes. They both knew that this night was going to forever change the life of Captain Wade, and so many other people.

"Wade," Steve nodded back. "What on earth happened here?"

Captain Wade shook his head and looked down. "I don't know, I really don't know right now. What I do know, is that there are men in there and we have nowhere to put them. They are criminals, but they can't be subject to this for much longer. We just have no place for them!"

Steve frowned, mulling over several possible ideas in his mind.

"What about putting them on a couple of planes?" Danny suggested. "We could bus them over to the airport and put them on planes. It'd be pretty easy to guard, and that way we could get everybody out of here, and in one place." He suddenly stopped to take a deep breath, which proved to be a bad ideas, since it caused him to erupt in a fit of coughing. He ignored Steve's concerned looks. "While they are in the planes, we can figure out who is missing."

"And then we could disperse them amongst the other prisons and jails we have here on Oahu, and fly them to Maui or the Big Island if we have to." Steve finished, still considering the idea. He let out an aggravated sigh. "This whole thing is just insane! Okay, let's try your plan. To get them all out of here is going to take a lot of transportation vehicles and guards. Danno, get on the horn and have HPD send over every van and _all_ available patrol cars. Then call as many hospitals as you can and have them send over ambulances; we're going to need them. Make sure that they are all on stand-by too. I have a feeling this night is going to have a lot of casualties." He paused as two men rushed up to join their group.

Chin-Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua were dressed in their house clothes, and they both wore horrified expressions on their faces.

Steve nodded at them in greeting and continued on, "Kono, get on the radio to a bus station, or tourist group – any place that has a bus, call them and have them send over available buses. Then help Danno out with calling the hospitals. Chin, call the airport. Have them get ready at least two commercial jets for now, but make sure they don't let anyone on them. Then call HPD. Have along with the cars, have them send as many cops as they can to the airport."

"Okay, Steve," Chin replied, running back towards his car.

"Done, boss." Kono said, following Chin. He noticed Danny was gone, and already on the radio, fulfilling Steve's orders.

Steve and Captain Wade exchanged a look. They were both thinking the same thing: _This is going to be a long night._

**H50**

_May 26, 1972 – 9:00 PM_

The prison had just began to go up in smoke. A handful of prisoners thought it was the most beautiful thing they'd seen in a long time, since it their handiwork that had created this caper. However, despite the apparent success, none of the men were celebrating yet, for they knew they wouldn't be in the clear until they had escaped and were safe.

The leader of the group had planned the escape well. He had made sure that there would be an abundance of fires near the front and sides especially, while making sure there were still some in the back, where they would make their escape. It wasn't the easiest task in the world to maneuver their way into the back of the prison. They didn't need to worry about being seen; there was far too much smoke for that. What they did worry about, was the billowing smoke swirling about, and the flames that were skipping to and fro around the men. Their eyes were watering, and their lungs were filled with smoke, but the men pressed on.

They got to the edge of the prison where they would be making their escape. Nobody was around, which was exactly what the men had wanted. The wall that stood in the way of their freedom was kicked down karate style by the tallest, and largest man of the group. The wall shattered around them like glass, hot shards flying at them. The dodged the showers of sparks, and crawled out of the wall. There was a mutual feeling of gratitude throughout the men, as they verified the fact that no one was around.

One of the men tripped over the wall and hit his head, knocking himself out. Two other men began to go back for him, but were stopped by their leader.

"Leave him! He's just dead weight."

The three men seemed hesitant, but followed the orders anyway.

The prison was built in an almost business-like atmosphere, which meant it would normally be tricky for the escapees to flee, _without_ being seen. However, this night was anything but normal. The men were counting on the fact that the late hour they had chose, as well as the smoke from the fire would distract any people from noticing them.

If the team of men had a name, it surely would've been "Jack-of-all-trades." Almost every man had a specific talent, or something special that he excelled in. One of the men had owned a car shop, and been a mechanic before he landed in jail. His main job was to jump start a car for them to get away in. With any luck, they were hoping to get away quickly and quietly before the cops even considered the idea that prisoners might have escaped.

The men were making their way along the outside of the prison. They made their way across an empty road, and fled into an abandoned parking lot. They huddled together in the dark end of the parking lot, trying to decide what to do next.

"We can't all go out looking for a car, we're bound to get caught," a man pointed out.

"But we can't all stay here! We're still way too close to the prison. We gotta get outta here," another man spat back.

"What if we split up into smaller groups, and travel through the alleyways and parking lots until we find a car we can steal. We can travel in a distance behind each other so if anyone sees us, it won't be too suspicious," the mechanic suggested.

"What about our uniforms?" the first man asked.

The leader spoke for the first time. "Cool, stay cool. I don't think anyone is going to notice our clothing right now. Lets go with your plan," He nodded at the mechanic. "It's our best bet. Okay, lets go."

The men divided up into three groups of three, and took their turns in exciting the parking lot. They were careful to stay in the shadows and keep a safe distance away from each other.

They traveled on for a while, before the group in front suddenly ducked into an alleyway. The other two groups entered the alleyway too when they approached it. What they saw at the end of the alley, was almost like a God-send to them. At the end of the alley, was a large van, abandoned for the night. The van was just a plain shade of white, probably used for deliveries. As far as the men could tell, there was only some writing on the side, nothing too fancy.

The men merged over to the vehicle, and the mechanic did his magic. Making sure no one was around, the men piled into the van. It took off out of the alley, and down the street.

They traveled for a long way before ending up somewhere in a forest. They covered the van with nature, and sat down.

Out of breath, the men sat around a tree panting and exchanging looks with one another. Finally, they stepped out of the reverie they were in, and all the men began to grin and laugh. The leader's smile was the biggest of the bunch, as he realized they had really done it, and they had gotten away with it.

The celebrating continued for several long minutes before it was finally cut short by the leader.

"All right gentlemen, all right!" He paused, and looked at each man. "We did it. I need to know right now who is going to stay with me, and who is going their own way. After tonight, we have to go our separate ways if any of you are going your own way."

Out of the group of nine, four men spoke up to indicate they would be going on their own path.

"Okay then." the leader acknowledged. "As for the rest of you, you are with me, right?" The men nodded at him. "Okay then. Now its time to make those precious Five-O detectives suffer." He chuckled, which turned into a full on laugh, and ended with a smile of pure evil spreading across his sweaty face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Beneath the Surface – Chapter Three**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hey everyone! Mahalo to everyone who has read and/or left lovely reviews on this story! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

><p>If someone were to come up to where the prison used to be, they could sum up the events in one word: chaotic. There were people <em>everywhere.<em> By that time, firetrucks had surrounded the premises, trying to seize control of the fire. Along with the firemen fighting the fire, there were firemen who had begun to enter the burning place, on a search and rescue mission. Two buses had been loaded up with prisoners and guards, headed on their way to the airport. Each bus had two HPD cars assigned to it; one in the front, one in the back. Ambulances were lined up from various hospitals, each ready to take away any of the injured men that were being dragged away from the fire.

HPD officers were busy trying to keep the crowds away from the disaster sight. The curious civilians and bystanders weren't such a problem to HPD, but the journalists and photographers were another matter in itself. A reporter and photo-journalist team had tried to create a diversion so that they could get closer to the action, and get an interview with the prison warden, Steve McGarrett, or even Danny Williams. Their ploy had only agitated the cops more, and the duo had been put under arrest temporarily until the situation was under control. It had taken up precious time to detain them, but it had prevented the other reporters from trying to pull any stunts.

The Five-O detectives had been buzzing as well. Danny and Kono had both been able to get what they wanted with little to no trouble, but Chin-Ho on the other hand, had not been as fortunate. The airport had not been very happy to comply with their request, and their would-be passengers had mirrored the airlines feelings. In the end, Chin had been able to get them to cooperate, but only under the empty threat to get the governor and/or the courts involved. However, even after everything had been organized and arranged, the detectives all knew that their night was still far from over.

**H50**

It had only been a couple short hours since the fire had began to fizzle out, and the firemen were able to get it under their control.

Most of the night's crowds had dissipated, going back home or to work. The reporters were still flocking, but they had begun to leave one by one, as they had to go back to their newspapers to meet their deadlines.

At some point during the night, control of the situation began to slide back over to Captain Wade and Chief Dann. Steve wouldn't admit it, but he was secretly glad that he didn't have to worry about handling this problem for now. He had enough problems and cases to sort out and finish up at the moment, and this was just something he didn't need.

He walked over to his big black Mercury, and leaned against the door. He closed his eyes, trying to muster up a feeling of peace. Kono and Chin were at the airport with several HPD men. They were still trying to figure out who they had back in custody. Steve opened his eyes suddenly, wondering where his young second-in-command was. Throughout the night, he had only seen glimpses of the detective, as Danny had been busy trying to manage several tasks at once. Steve had been doing the same, but he found it odd that he couldn't find Danny anywhere, now that things were relatively calming down. Steve sighed, running a hand over his eyes, attempting to rid his vision of the unwelcome cobwebs that were suddenly appearing. He opened his eyes, just in time to see Danny walking straight towards him, two paper cups in his hands.

"Here Steve," Danny pushed one of the cups, which was full of hot steaming coffee, at Steve, who gratefully accepted the java.

"Thanks, Danno," Steve took a sip, and continued surveying the prison.

Danny was also looking around the blackened remains of the jail, with an intense expression on his face.

Steve noticed the look on his detective's face. "What's on your mind, Danno?"

Danny turned to look at Steve, and shook his head. "I don't know, Steve. Something is bugging me about this whole mess, but I can't place my finger on exactly what it is."

Steve nodded, and waited for Danny to go on.

"I think it might be _how_ the fire started," he hesitated for a moment. "I mean, it's a prison. The most 'logical' place for a fire to start, would be the kitchen. But if that was the case, then it could have been maintained, and it wouldn't have caused all this." He used his left arm to gesture widely in front of himself at the prison.

Steve raised his eyebrows, and nodded again. "Since the entire prison _was_ engulfed in flames, the only 'logical' explanation, would be arson. And why would someone set a prison on fire? For kicks? Maybe. It could have been some kids, looking for a thrill, or even a couple druggies. Maybe, maybe. They're both possibilities, but my suspicion is that the real reason is escape. Some prisoners, probably ones in for life, got restless and thought up this scheme."

"It makes sense," Danny interjected, with a nod. "It would be easy to escape when everyone is concerned about getting the people to safety, and controlling the flames. Plus the smoke from the fire would make it easy for them to sneak away somewhere before anyone really noticed."

Steve gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, smooth. _Real _smooth. They would have known that there was likely to be casualties and even deaths. They could get away, and even after we figure out who we have and who is 'missing', we will still have to figure out which prisoners are dead, and which escaped."

The pair went quiet, each one thinking about how this whole thing could go nowhere but downhill. The silence was broken by a new car pulling up, and the arrival of Che Fong.

"Hello Steve. Danny," the little oriental man grimly greeted, as he walked up to the detectives. Danny gave him a small wave.

"Morning Che. Sorry you have to start your morning off like this." Steve greeted.

"Just another day at the office, Steve," Che replied, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face.

Steve sighed in agreement. "The firemen have it under control now, they're ready for you and your team whenever you are." Steve told him, to which the forensics expert merely nodded. "There isn't much for us to tell you. Danno and I think it might have been a prison escape cover, but it's only suspicions right now. We're going to head back to the office. Call us when you find anything."

"Will do, Steve." Che Fong replied, watching Steve and Danny enter the Mercury, and drive off in the direction of the Iolani Palace.


End file.
